A relatively new nicotine product that sits at the gum line and doesn’t smoke has gained a lot of new users in just the last year. It’s an oral nicotine pouch, and it sits at the gum line so you can’t really tell it’s there.
Philip Morris International said in February that Zyn, the top brand that came out in the US market in 2014, sold 350 million cans in 2023, which is about 15 pouches per can. This is a 62% increase from the previous year. Adults who already use nicotine are the product’s target market, but some researchers and health experts are worried that the press may bring in a lot of new users, especially younger people.
An email from Philip Morris International says that Zyn does not use social media stars for marketing, and the company only posts content on Facebook and Instagram for people in the US who are at least 21 years old. But Zyn use has gone up on college campuses across the country, and a new type of unofficial nicotine booster has shown up on social media: “Zynfluencers.”
Recently, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer asked the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission to look into how Zyn markets itself and how it might affect people’s health. During a January news conference, he warned parents, “These nicotine pouches seem to have their sights set on young kids, teens, and even younger kids, and then use social media to hook them.”
Are Nicotine Pouches Just As Good As Vaping?
Tobacco is a well-known poison that can cause many types of cancer. Tobacco use is the main reason people get lung cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. Along with nicotine pouches from Rogue, On!, and Velo, Zyn offers its own nicotine pouches as an alternative to tobacco use and smoking.
Kecia Christensen, a nurse practitioner at Nebraska Medicine who specializes in thoracic surgery and pulmonary disease, does not recommend using a nicotine pouch as a way to stop smoking. This is because using a nicotine pouch does not involve breathing in chemicals like smoking cigarettes or vape pens do.
If people want to try to quit smoking, it’s good to know that companies are working on nicotine replacements that don’t involve tobacco. I think these kinds of products are bad because, as a trained tobacco treatment expert, I have to tell my clients, “I don’t really know for sure what’s in those things” until the FDA fully regulates them.
The company says that Philip Morris International’s request for FDA approval has been waiting since 2020. Still, FDA officials have let the nicotine product that isn’t tobacco stay on the market while the application is being looked at.
While more study needs to be done on the product, Christensen says that if the nicotine content of the nicotine pouches is slowly lowered until it is lower than that of cigarettes or chewing tobacco, it may help people who want to give up tobacco and nicotine completely cut down on their cravings.
Christensen often tells his patients to guess that each cigarette has about 5–10 mg of nicotine, even though the amount they actually breathe in is probably less. This is because the exact amounts can vary. The nicotine content of each type of nicotine pouch is different. Most pouches have 3 to 6 milligrams of nicotine, but some brands have up to 28 milligrams.
Using Nicotine Pouches Too Much And Mental Health
Christensen says that vaping tobacco often makes people who are trying to quit tobacco even more dependent on nicotine than smoking cigarettes. This is because, in her opinion, vapes are easier to use and are more often used inside during smoke breaks than outside. A nicotine pouch is even more hidden because it is about the size of chewing gum and has a bag that is 0.6 by 1.1 to 1.3 inches (14 millimeters by 28 to 32 millimeters). Anyone can put them in their mouth almost anywhere and no one will know.
Signs of nicotine addiction include cravings and withdrawal symptoms like headaches, tiredness, and anger. The National Cancer Institute says that studies have shown a possible link between long-term use and heart disease, circulatory disease, problems with reproduction, and other health problems. Nicotine does not cause lung disease or cancer, according to the FDA.
It might be harder to quit smoking, says Christensen, if you use drugs to deal with worry, anxiety, or depression. She said, “Nicotine addiction is really pretty tightly wrapped up with mental health.” “People usually give up and start smoking or chewing again when something bad happens in their lives, like more stress, losing their job, a family member dying, or getting divorced.” They either smoke because they can’t handle their feelings or don’t think they can handle them without smoking. Additionally, Christensen said that people who used tobacco while they were teens may find it especially hard to quit.
People Who Use And Influence Zyn
Many posts on TikTok and Instagram have the hashtag “Zynfluencer,” and even more have just “Zyn.” Zyn doesn’t have any official social media stars. “People over the age of 21 should only use nicotine goods. Philip Morris International told CNN, “The most recent data from the FDA and the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) indicates that the use of juvenile nicotine pouches has stayed low while offering many adult smokers a better alternative than continuing to smoke.”
Swedish Match, a tobacco company that makes Zyn and was bought by Philip Morris International in February 2023, says that most of the people who follow them on social media were “previous consumers of traditional oral, vaping, and cigarette products with others coming from other nicotine product categories.”
According to Meghan Moran, an associate professor of health, behavior, and society at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Zyn ads use the words “smoke-free,” “spit-free,” and “odor-free,” and the products may be shown being used in places where it’s illegal to smoke or use an e-cigarette. When it comes to being beautiful to people under 21, the discreetness worries her, she went on.
Teenagers and young adults often find themselves in places where using tobacco products could have negative effects, such as at school or at home with their parents. Because of these things, being private in a product might be very appealing to them. “When you think about young people who are not already using tobacco and who we don’t want to use tobacco,” he said.
For the Zyn nicotine pouches, there are also different tastes, like cold mint, wintergreen, coffee, and cinnamon, which may appeal to younger customers. The FDA and CDC’s 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 1.5% of middle school and high school students had used nicotine pouches in the past 30 days in October.
Brain King, who is in charge of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a statement, “the FDA remains concerned about any tobacco product that may appeal to youth.” “As always, we’re going to go after anyone who sells illegal tobacco products, especially ones that are marketed, labeled, or meant to encourage people underage to use them.”
“Nicotine sickness,” which happens when people take too much tobacco, can make them throw up and feel sick, says Christensen. The FDA and CDC have done studies that say things with nicotine can also “harm the developing adolescent brain.”
